Public and private sector pay gap widens

The gap between public and private sector pay has
increased to up to £100 a week since 1984, according to new figures.

GMB research has shown that the differential between
public and private sector pay is now as high as £6,000 a year.

Overall, according to statistics produced by the Labour
Research Department, public sector pay needs to be increased by up to 24 per
cent to produce a level playing field.

The union hit out at the Tory Party’s new poster campaign
highlighting public sector staffing shortages because it claimed the growth in
the pay gap was established under the last Conservative government.

Public sector pay negotiations for 1,400,000 local
authority employees are due to resume on 14 February.

GMB general secretary John Edmonds said, "Next
month’s public sector pay talks should be used to make Mr Hague eat his words
and show that this is the first government in almost two decades that is truly
committed to protecting our public services and the workers who deliver
them."